I am one of those early morning foggy headed souls that bump into furniture on my way to the kitchen to grind my beans and heat up my little Italian coffee pot. I spend a small fortune on organic, perfectly roasted beans from foreign lands.
Three years ago, after retiring from a grueling job as CEO of a non-profit organization, I filled a spot on a 21-day bird-watching trip in Colombia, South America. So, of course, drinking a boatload of coffee was on my priority list. Starting high in the Andes Mountains near Bogota and ending in the middle of the Colombian Amazon near Brazil, I was chauffeured through the Andes spotted with coffee bushes reaching from the valley floor to the mountain top. You can imagine my disappointment during my first breakfast without coffee, as Colombians drink hot cocoa instead. In fact, coffee was rarely served. The upscale grocery market near the hotel, however, offered a variety of coffee products with handsome men smiling brightly on the package. I filled my suitcase.
A year later, I return for a two-week bird-watching venture on the Caribbean side of Colombia known for its beaches, sharks and shrimp. Somewhere between the Caribbean and the Amazon, maybe in the middle of the Andes, I fell in love with Colombia. Hiring a driver and car for an extra 10 days to explore this amazing country as a retirement second home site, I aimed for the famous Coffee Triangle area.
Visiting a coffee farm touted in many brochures, I was taken by a young college student, dressed in historically correct coffee culture attire, on a journey through Victorian Garden rows of perfectly shaped coffee plants. I picked a few beans, added 200 photos to my memory card and squirmed through a cup of bitter coffee.
Along most country roads, 10 cents will buy a small paper cup of coffee from a thermos that had a strange metallic taste called “tinto,” which translates to “black ink.” By now, I am totally confused. Juan gently tells me that these open coffee fields do not produce the best coffee. It gets worse. Colombia exports their best coffee beans, leaving the poorest crops for the locals. I am astounded.
But Juan has a surprise for me. A few days later, his four-wheel SUV takes me higher and deeper into the Andes off the well-travelled coffee track to a small village called El Cairo. There, in a coffee shop full of cheerful young Colombians, I find coffee heaven while sipping a mystical coffee with rich, smooth flavour.
This small village next to the best coffee in the world seemed like the perfect spot to rest my bones. With hopes of buying property, I soon returned, after a brief Spanish class, to live for two months in a hippie hostel run by an artist who spoke no English. It was an experience of a lifetime.
A colourful Spanish colonial town of almost 10,000 located in the Valle de Cauca Department, El Cairo is surrounded by coffee and sugar cane farms. Set high in the Serrania de Paraguas Mountains, the town has been designated a UNESCO historic site. The clean and well-cared-for community teems with activity from sunrise ’til past midnight, portraying the vitality and success of this place.
I spent my mornings visiting the local bakery and farmers market, hiking the hills, swimming in very cold rivers and writing. Once, I watched fourth-generation artisans make panela the old fashion way in a historic sugar cane factory and toured an organic herb farm.
Often riding a motorcycle or standing on the back of a Willy Jeep on muddy dirt roads, I found amazing birds. My Spanish never improved because everyone wants to learn English. My hostel keeper made me California pizzas in her artsy “La Roma” café located on the patio below my room, where I met interesting Colombians from the big cities looking for a weekend of peace. I learned to make delicious juice from wild orange and mango trees and drank a lot of coffee.
On the town square is the Serraniagua Coffee Shop offering coffee so good that customers pay twice the regular price for a cup. Their secret is based on conservation methods, community involvement, cultural traditions and a love for their country. It is forest coffee.
Twenty years ago, the coffee farmers struggled with severe climate fluctuations resulting in the whole community suffering. Many generations before, farmers mingled coffee plants with sugar cane, vegetable gardens and fruit trees under the forest canopy. During the coffee industry boom, farmers were convinced they would make more money if they cleared the forest and planted only coffee. The tradition of growing and harvesting coffee in harmony with other plants had been lost.
In fear of losing family traditions and their culture, El Cairo’s leaders formed the Serraniagua Foundation and began to establish partnerships with coffee farmers to give the traditional methods another try. Most importantly, Serraniagua built a network of businesses to purchase their new high-quality forest coffee. Throughout the years, one by one, the El Cairo coffee farmers tested their belief in Serraniagua’s vision and willingly changed their coffee process, slowly allowing the forest to grow back. The benefits have surpassed all expectations.
Forest coffee farming is basically tending coffee plants within the forest. The term shadow coffee has been around for many years, however, plantain plants are planted for shade. A native forest contains not only plantains, but also tropical fruit trees, flowers and bamboo. The forest shades the coffee with just the right amount of sunshine necessary for healthy coffee plants.
Forest coffee farms are also an important factor in preserving biodiversity in the region. The trees within the farms create a corridor of forests between two protected reserves near El Cairo: the Cerro el Ingles and Galapagos. The term bird-friendly coffee has often been used by promoters, but many animals benefit from these non-interrupted forest corridors. I often hiked these trails spending hours watching birds, taking photos of almost 30 different varieties of orchids, and chasing slender lizards, purple dragonflies, prehistoric beetles, colourful frogs or graceful butterflies.
Due to the severe destruction of the forest that had occurred in this area, the Serraniagua Organization took the responsibility to consolidate various properties over a span of 10 years to create the Cerro El Ingles reserve. As a result, recent discoveries of amphibians, reptiles and plants confirm the role of this reserve as a unique refuge for many species that have evolved there. Several expeditions and research projects concerning amphibians and plants are conducted by various organizations such as the National Universities of Colombia, the Valle de los Andes, various universities in New Mexico, the New York Botanical Garden and Düsseldorf.
Some of the most important discoveries are frogs listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and endemic to this reserve such as the Broken Jumping frog (anomaloglossus atopoglossus), Glass Armed frog (Nymphargus armatus) and Prickly Rain frog (Pristimanis kelephas). These expeditions have found a wide diversity and endemism of orchids, many new to science such as the Paz orchid (Epidendrum pazii) discovered by Professor Philip Arthur Silverstone of the University del Valle. The survival of these frogs and orchids are completely linked to conservation efforts in this reserve. I found that members of the community were immensely proud of their contributions.
Even though I am an avid nature lover, my favourite feature of a forest coffee farm is their aesthetic beauty. From the road, the farm is hidden under trees providing a beautiful endless view of an untouched Andes. Akin to a Garden of Eden, I walked peacefully in the cool shade between thriving vegetable plants placed haphazardly in sunny spots. Bees and butterflies flutter between gaudy flowers savouring rays of sunshine spattering through trees. Taking a break on the cool pathway, I munched on a just-picked juicy nispero while listening to a songbird symphony above my head. Ahhhhh, now all I need is a cup of coffee.
For more information about visiting a forest coffee farm or how to purchase great coffee, contact the Serraniagua Organization at www.serraniagua.org
Bucking the trend, they only sell their coffee within Colombia, so take an extra suitcase.